Help getting new sounds

The place for general discussion of Cakewalk Pro Audio.
danth
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 2:35 am

Post by danth » Fri Mar 04, 2005 2:45 am

Hey guys, this is my first post here. I've been composing on keyboards/synethesizers/Cakewalk for ten years now, off and on, but only as a hobby. I have some questions for you guys.

I want new sounds (what's the correct term? Instruments? Voices?). I want more than I have on my synth and my sound card. How can I get more? I've heard of soundfonts -- are those just files I can download, or are they hardware based?

And also, I know they sell modules that just have different sounds. If soundfonts don't have what I need, I'll probably want one of these. Are there any good brands or models that come highly recommended? I'm interested in mainly orchestral/symphonic sounds (good strings & horns) and techno/electronic stuff. And what's the price range on these modules?

I hope you guys can help -- I've been wondering about this stuff for a LONG time!

Thanks!

Dan


andychap
Posts: 685
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:26 pm
Location: UK

Post by andychap » Fri Mar 04, 2005 7:58 pm

Soundfonts are really another format of sample that was created by EMU and adopted by Creative for use with their soundblaster cards. When those cards where all the rage soundfonts where naturally the way to go.

If you have one of these cards then soundfonts are easily downloaded from lots of different site. Just google soundfont's.

If you don't have a card that supports soundfonts then you can get basic sample players that will play soundfonts. I thinK SFZ is one.

TBH if you have a decent computer with plenty of RAM, a reasonable CPU (1+Ghz) and plenty of hard drive space then why not go for samples.

You can download samples, record your own or buy them from a few bucks to what it would cost to hire an orchestra, depends on quality really. You can also edit samples to fit exactly what you want and with modern software you can use time stretching to adjust BPM of even pitch.

Anything you can get as a hardware module can be replicated in software these days at a fraction of a price. This is a good site for VST's it will give you an idea of what is available. http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/index.php

Loads of links here to look at all sorts of articles on things such as soundfonts or samples. http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Enjoy :wink:

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